Sure, the U.S. market is a bit stretched based on historical valuations. But we are sitting on almost a 7% gain since January, and U.S. stock show no sign of cooling off anytime soon.

If you’ve been on the sidelines lately or if you’ve been leery of making new purchases, it’s not easy to get involved now. After all, a lot of the stocks you thought were expensive a few months ago are even more so today.

Here are three of my favorite stocks to consider adding to your portfolio at current levels:

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA)

YTD performance: +35% Dividend yield: 3%

Bloomberg

One of my favorite long-term, low-risk investment plays is in health care. This is thanks to the demographic tailwind of aging baby boomers and the additional “customers” brought in to the market by Obamacare thanks to an increase in insurance coverage.

It also helps that health-care revenues are largely recession-proof as patients cut back on many other things before medications or treatments, and that many stocks in this sector pay juicy dividends.

And of all the health care stocks out there, one of my favorites is Teva Pharmaceutical Industries TEVA, +2.13%
.

As the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs, Teva is insulated from the patent problems that plague larger companies. And furthermore, its focus on downmarket treatments has allowed it not just to build out scale in the U.S. but also to find growth overseas.

The margins are thinner, but you can make up for this with scale — and with more than $20 billion in sales annually in all corners of the globe, Teva certainly has that.

Now, there’s no breakout potential in Teva stock, since drug research isn’t really its game. But for low-risk investors, that’s a big plus. Throw in a nice 3% dividend and you’ve got yourself a solid stock even market skeptics can believe in.

All this and a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 11 based on fiscal 2015 forecasts makes Teva stock quite attractive.

Ford Motor Co. (F)

YTD performance: +14% Dividend yield: 2.8%

Ford Motor Co.

Ford Motor Co.F, +1.62%
is certainly not the most exciting company in the world, but as a value play right now it’s worth a look.

Ford recently posted strong earnings on margin expansion and international growth. However, Wall Street remains skeptical and is valuing the automaker at just 9 times fiscal 2015 earnings. If you’re concerned about chasing consumer staples stocks with forward earnings multiples in the high teens, I don’t blame you, but Ford is a stock with growth potential at a much more reasonable price.

In addition to growth, as illustrated by revenue expansion in six of the last seven quarters, Ford also offers big dividend growth potential. Its current yield is 2.8%, and Ford has a payout ratio that is about 30% of projected 2015 earnings.

That means room for future increases, and the company’s rapid dividend growth from 5 cents a share quarterly in 2012 to 12.5 cents a share shows that Ford is committed to returning capital to shareholders now that the dividend is reinstated. In fact, 12.5 cents is the highest per-share distribution for the automaker since 2001.

Ford is admittedly a bit more of a cyclical play than the others on this list, but continued growth in auto sales and a stable financials should bring comfort to investors. The company’s “automotive cash” last quarter — money from manufacturing and not financing activities — hit $25.8 billion, exceeding its debt by more than $10 billion.

With a balance sheet like that and $13 billion in cash, Ford can weather whatever comes its way if the economy hits an snag.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

YTD performance: +14% Dividend yield: 2.7%

Bloomberg News

Big banks don’t normally evoke ideas of a low-risk investment. But Wells FargoWFC, -2.72%
is a cut above the rest, given its balance sheet and track record.

This major bank was hit during the financial crisis with the rest of the sector, but quickly made back its losses and the shares started setting new all-time highs in 2013.

Furthermore, its current dividend of 35 cents per share each quarter is actually higher than the 34 cents it paid in 2008, right before the mortgage meltdown and Federal Reserve intervention forced Wells Fargo to slash payments. That should give bank skeptics some peace of mind.

Looking forward, Wells continues to show short-term strength thanks to the hopes of a recovery in lending and a roughly 17% share of the U.S. mortgage origination market.

The stock also offers tremendous long-term potential thanks to its stability and dividend growth. The company’s dividend payout reflects less than a third of current earnings, meaning dividends are both sustainable and can grow.

Wells is a great low-risk play to get into the financial services sector now. After continued outperformance, the shares have pulled back a little on ho-hum second-quarter earnings — creating a buying opportunity.

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